Canon EOS-D30 Review

Design

It looks and feels every bit like a 35mm EOS, and that's
exactly what Canon wanted, to the same degree it's like no other EOS,
lots of little design touches and styling make it obvious that the D30
was destined to be a digital from conception. Despite having a "plastic"
outer skin the D30 is surprisingly strong with no sign of flex, everything
feels solid, if you take a look at the cutaway image below you'll see
why, there's a strong metal substructure.

Canon were keen to point out that everything from the
lens mount back to the CMOS sensor is a solid metal box, you can also
see that the entire back is supported by a solid sheet of metal, all in
all the D30 is very well built for a "consumer digital SLR".
In your hand the D30 feels very good, weight balance is good and compared
to other digital SLR's it's a lightweight (even with the optional battery
grip). Seem lines are tight and there's not a creek or body flex in sight.
All in all I'd say that build quality is excellent. Any improvements?
The grip could have been deeper with a more pronounced lip on the front
(1v style).

In the cut away diagram of the D30 below we've identified
several components (internal and external) which may be of interest.

The D30 features several interesting internal components,
the mirror having a semitransparent area in the center which provides
an image to the AF sensor below, above, attached to the viewfinder prism
is the cameras E-TTL flash sensor which works by measuring the exposure
of a pre-flash just milliseconds before the main flash (only works with
the onboard flash or Canon EX Speedlights).

Sub-note: there was a suggestion / question to the manufacturers
from our discussion forum: Wouldn't it be possible to make the whole of
the mirror semitransparent and replace the AF sensor with a cheap CMOS
/ CCD unit (say 850 K pixels) which could provide AF information and the
ability to have a live preview on the rear LCD?

The CMOS sensor mounted exactly where you'd expect it,
protected by the anti-alias filter which is situated immediately in front
of it (and not removable). On the outside of the camera you'll note the
AF assist lamp which doubles as a redeye reduction lamp when taking flash
shots.

Here's a size comparison of the D30 beside the only "other
brand" competition (at the time of writing this review), Nikon's
D1. The D30 (body only) weighs in at 0.89 kg (2 lb) with one battery,
with the battery grip (shown) and two batteries it weighs 1.27 kg (2.8
lb), compare this to the D1 (body only) with battery at 1.42 kg (3.1 lb).

Notice how the shape of my hand changed with the optional
battery grip, this definitely makes the camera easier to hold in one hand
(although you would almost always be supporting the lens with your left
hand).

Rear LCD Display

The LCD on the D30 is a fairly typical 1.8" 114,000 pixel
unit, it's bright and clear and despite not having an anti-reflective
coating seems to perform surprisingly well outdoors.

Obviously as the D30 is an SLR with no live preview option the
LCD is only "On" if you have image review enabled (after
taking the shot either 2, 4, 8 seconds or hold on the shutter release),
when you're navigating menus or reviewing images in playback.

Top Information LCD

The top LCD on the D30 provides just about all the information
you could ever need, there's everything on here from exposure information,
remaining frames, drive mode to white balance, image quality and
battery status. You can VERY EASILY control all the major camera
functions without using the rear LCD at all. Additionally as there's
only ONE information LCD you only have one place to look / worry
about. It's worth noting that you can program the rear SET button
to perform a custom function such as changing ISO etc.

It's probably worth noting that this isn't ALL the information
the LCD displays, when changing settings the LCD changes mode, for example
the exposure meter doubles up to display bracketing information, the shutter
speed can display ISO when it's being changed etc.

Comments

believe it or not, a friend of mine still uses 2 x D30 bodies plus a couple of top of the class Canon lenses for professional sports and wedding work! and he is quite happy with it too! probably will go on using it `till the day the cameras die ... :)

Why not? :) I do have also a 2x 30D Setup: with 18-55 STM, and the other with the 10-18 STM UWA Lens. Perhaps would replace the 18-55 STM onto one 30D with the 55-250 STM for Occasions, just like being into the Zoo, etc.

I found my fine well cared for 30D and mounted a EF 24-105 - gave my wife the set in hand and she is making very beautiful shots and are as happy as if i got a new 1D. Impressing, but must say that the older houses i have make a crossroad with this. I have kept all the old ones - and older than this is unfortunately too slow, week in performance and capture size. Will never sell, and none have a scratch

What a POJ!!! 3 mp ha! Canon must think it's the year 2000. :-) ( I love reading these old reviews to see how far digital has come) It's Canon's early use of CMOS tech that allowed them to become the top seller they are today.